A Brief Madness
by Everlark Pearl
Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Mellark fought for hours that night. It was a screaming match that Peeta was sure the entire town could hear. "Seam Brat" and "trash" were shouted countless times, causing Peeta to cringe every time his mother's shrill voice uttered those awful words, and by the end of the night, only one thing was clear — Gale Hawthorne was coming to work at the Mellark's Bakery.


Peeta Mellark observed a lot from the front window of his family's bakery in District 12. There were Merchant children playing in the square while their parents worked. Happy couples strolled through the streets blinded by their bliss, unable to see the bitter couples that had long given up on happiness and on caring what everyone in town would think if they were to engage in a screaming match right in front of the sweet shop. But what Peeta was most interested in were the moments when Peacekeepers would turn their heads the other way when an illegal trade was conducted between Merchant and Seam people.

Everyone in the district knew that most trades involved illegal items. Poached game or stolen goods, usually. Gale Hawthorne was someone who traded often. In fact, it used to be the only reason he ever showed his face in town.

Gale wasn't Peeta's favorite person in the world, and from their very limited interactions with one another it was evident that Peeta was not very high on Gale's list of good people, either. They'd managed to mostly avoid each over the last few years, despite the fact that on a rainy spring day four years prior a chain of events would link them both to Katniss Everdeen.

More often than not, Gale would come to town to trade with Katniss by his side. Ever since the day Katniss started going into the woods, hardly a day went by that she wasn't with Gale either hunting in the woods or trading game in town. Katniss's hauls brought more to whoever they traded with. Not an ounce of meat was wasted when Katniss killed it and the Merchants knew it.

Peeta always found himself edging closer and closer to the bakery's window when Katniss was around. He'd sweep the floor slowly, spending more time searching for her telltale braid and trying to catch her eye than he did making sure the crumbs on the floor had been swept up. All he had to do was catch her eye.

He tried not to make it obvious to anyone else in the bakery. The last thing he needed was his older brother Rye catching him staring. The gossip that Peeta Mellark had a crush on a girl from the Seam would spread through school so fast that he never would've gotten a minute to try and talk his way out of it.

The truth was, Peeta's best days were days when Katniss spent time in town, even if it meant Gale Hawthorne was with her. As Gale spoke with Merchants in attempts to negotiate a trade, Peeta would notice Katniss's head turn in the direction of the bakery, a shy smile lighting up her face when Peeta would wave as their eyes met.

Katniss's smiles were nice. Some of the most beautiful that Peeta had ever seen, but maybe that's because he knew the ones he saw were only for him. She would set her mouth into a thin, straight line as she tried to fight those smiles until it inevitably forced the corners of her mouth up and caused her eyes to to brighten. There wasn't much else in the world that would bring about the same rolling in his stomach and restlessness in through his body. The only other thing he could think of that was better than Katniss's smiles were the nods they exchanged when they saw each other.

Peeta would catch Katniss's eyes, and after they'd held their gaze long enough, he would nod once. With his eyebrows raised in question, the nod asked her, _"Will you?" _And with an equally subtle nod, Katniss answered, "_Yes"_. The secret bond that was formed when Peeta witnessed Katniss at her worst and the bread he managed to salvage and throw to her that day brought four years worth of late night meetings behind the bakery that he hoped would never end. And it was only for them to know.

They'd spend their nights talking quietly together, careful not to wake anyone that slept nearest to the windows that faced the alley behind the bakery. They'd share a small amount of bread, as much as Peeta could take before his family would notice the stock of old bread was dwindling, and took comfort in one another's company.

There were many nights when they abandoned the need for the quiet conversation altogether. For some reason, that always made it even more special to Peeta. Gale wasn't there to distract Katniss like he was during the day when they came around to trade. Gale didn't even know that she was there. The thrill of their secret gatherings always made Peeta smile to himself. He had Katniss all to himself, even if only for a few, brief moments. Little did he know that their secret would soon become harder to conceal.

It was a Saturday morning when Peeta spotted his father on the front steps of the bakery talking to Hazelle Hawthorne, Gale's mother. She was crying as she spoke. Even though Peeta couldn't hear a word they said beyond the glass, it was clear that she was pleading with Mr. Mellark. Whatever was wrong, Peeta could see that Hazelle Hawthorne needed help, and judging by the way her shoulders soon slumped in relief and she nodded thankfully while clutching Mr. Mellark's hands, Peeta knew his father had offered it.

Mr. and Mrs. Mellark fought for hours that night. It was a screaming match that Peeta was sure the entire town could hear. _"Seam brat" _and _"trash"_ were shouted countless times, causing Peeta to cringe every time his mother's shrill voice uttered those awful words, but by the end of the night, only one thing was clear - Gale Hawthorne was coming to work at the Mellark's Bakery.

Gale's first day began just as the first few snowflakes of the season began to flitter through the air, blanketing the district in fluffy, white snow. He was quiet at first, barely speaking two words between showing up at the bakery and leaving to meet up with Katniss as soon as he was finished. As the days stretched into weeks, he was trading less and less.

Katniss still came into town, now confident enough to handle trades on her own before she would meet Gale out in front of the bakery. She would offer Peeta a wave, a shy smile, and sometimes a nod before turning on her heel and heading back to the Seam with Gale. Peeta always wanted to wave her in when he saw her waiting outside. It was winter, after all, and the ovens in the bakery ensured that it stayed warm inside. But he could never quite get his hand to go from waving goodbye to waving her toward him. Not with Gale around.

After a month of nothing more than an occasional hello, Peeta decided to try and talk to Gale. He searched all day for an opportunity for small talk and finally found it in the old and tattered mop that Gale was using to wash the floor.

"There's a brand new mop in the broom closet if you wanted to use it," Peeta said. "That one you're using now has seen better days."

"Thanks," Gale mumbled, disappearing into the broom closet and returning seconds later with the brand new mop in his hand.

"You're welcome. So," Peeta started, not entirely sure what he even wanted to say to Gale if it wasn't about Katniss. He had a lot he wanted to ask about Katniss. _Do you really spend all of those hours in the woods hunting? Has she ever used the chill in the air as an excuse to scoot closer to you while you're there? Do you make her happy? _In the end, he was only able to think of one question he could ask, "How's school going for you this year?"

"I don't need this job, you know," Gale snapped, dropping the new mop into the bucket of soapy water and letting it splash on the floor.

"Really?" Peeta retorted, suddenly irritated. "That's not how your mother made it look."

Gale's eyes narrowed. "She thinks that getting me a job here in exchange for some of your old bread is going to keep me out of the woods," he said. "The joke is on her, though. I still go every afternoon."

"With Katniss."

Peeta knew all too well that a little bit of bread was only enough to feed a family for a short time. It did nothing to keep the hungriest residents of District 12 out of the woods no matter how much he hoped it would.

_"Maybe my dad can get you a job here, too," Peeta whispered, crossing his arms over his chest tightly when a cold shot of wind whipped through the alley. _

_"Your family barely has enough scraps to offer Gale," Katniss said. "I can take care of myself."_

_"I'll give you mine."_

_"Peeta.."_

_"What if they catch you, Katniss?" he asked worriedly. "I know they turn their heads now, but what happens when a new Head Peacekeeper takes over? Old Cray won't be in that position forever, you know."_

_"But he is now, and now is all I can worry about for one day," Katniss said, shivering. "I should probably go before Prim wakes up and realizes I'm not there."_

"Yeah. With Katniss," Gale repeated, pushing the mop across the bakery floor angrily. "And in another year I'll finally be old enough to work in the mines like my father. I won't need to come to this place anymore and feel patronized all day long."

"Patronized?" Peeta asked. "Is that what you think this is? Patronizing? My father was doing your family a favor."

"Of course you'd see it as a favor," Gale scoffed. "I bet it makes your dad real proud, doesn't it? Helping those less fortunate. Well, I am perfectly capable of feeding my family on my own."

"How are you going to do that if your mother doesn't want you in the woods?" Peeta asked. "You'll only be able to fool her into believing that all the food you're bringing home is from us for so long. Where would we get turkey from? You and Katniss are the only ones that bring us turkeys, and you're risking getting her in trouble too, right now. Have you ever thought about that?"

"Katniss can handle herself," Gale mumbled. "She tells me that enough."

"I know she can," Peeta replied with a smile that was quickly extinguished by the way Gale glared at him. "But that doesn't mean she can't get caught. You have to know that since you agreed to work here. Even though it's pretty clear you don't want to be here."

"You're right, I don't want to be here," Gale said, offering nothing more.

"Well, nobody is stopping you from leaving. You know where the door is." If Peeta's father heard him talking to someone like that, he would certainly be sent to bed without dinner, so he kept his words short and his tone low. "I'm sure my father would be pretty disappointed to learn that his kindness to you was returned with ungratefulness."

Gale scoffed again and shook his head. "Of course _you _would see me as ungrateful. All of you Merchants do."

"I think your definition of ungrateful differs from mine," Peeta said. "Is that because I'm a Merchant, too?"

"Probably," Gale said, shrugging.

"Then maybe you should enlighten me sometime," Peeta challenged before storming off..

XXXX

"So, is Gale actually showing up for work like he's supposed to?" Katniss asked, reaching out and taking her half of the loaf of bread Peeta brought out for them.

"Yeah, he shows up," Peeta confirmed. "He has a bad attitude, though."

"Ignore him. That's what I do," Katniss explained. "He just lets his rage fester until it turns to bitterness. As long as you -"

"Katniss?" Peeta asked, cutting her off. "Do we have to talk about Gale right now?"

"No," Katniss said, shaking her head. "Of course not. I was just hoping that if I kept talking, it would help me warm up a bit."

Their secret meetings were always shorter in the winter. Even with the shield of the alley, the snow and bitter cold was often too much for them to stand for too long, and Katniss would head back to the Seam far sooner than she normally would to find as much warmth as she could.

"Here," Peeta said, shrugging out of his coat. "Put this on over yours."

"Won't you be cold?" Katniss asked, reluctantly accepting the heavier, gray coat.

"I'll be alright," Peeta assured her. He scooted in closer to her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his body protectively. "Is this ok?"

"Yes." Katniss relaxed her body, resting her head on Peeta's chest. "It feels nice."

"Good," Peeta smiled as he rested his cheek on the top of Katniss's head. "Now you can stay longer."

They sat huddled together on the back stoop of the bakery for over an hour in silence, the need for conversation abandoned once again. Peeta would have sat outside all night if he could, but when he was no longer able to hide his shivering, it caused Katniss to stir.

After that, there was nothing Peeta could say that would convince Katniss to stay longer. She gave him his coat back, and with a doleful sigh, told him to go upstairs and warm up. Peeta had no choice but to agree.

"When can I see you again?" He asked from the doorway.

"Soon," Katniss promised kicking at the fresh snow on the ground. "Don't let Gale get to you."

"I'll try," Peeta laughed.

"Bye."

"Bye," Peeta repeated with a wave.

XXXX

As the weeks turned into months, winter finally relented and spring took over. The district was bathed in warm sunlight and filled with the sounds of birds singing their songs well into the evening. The break in the weather not only enabled Katniss to stay longer, but also allowed Peeta and Gale to take breaks outside during their shifts.

Peeta quickly found out that he really didn't mind spending time with Gale. Their opinions on things often differed, but Gale was always a willing debater, using his abhorrence of the Capitol as a platform to drive his points home.

_"So, you never really explained to me why you hate Merchants so much," Peeta said._

_"I wouldn't use the word hate."_

_"What word would you use, then?" Peeta disputed. "You judged me and lashed out at me before you ever really knew me, and I feel like you probably still are." _

_"Like you didn't judge me?" Gale retorted defensively. _

_"Look," Peeta said, exasperated. Gale was always playing defense. "The only thing I knew about you was that you hunted with Katniss Everdeen. Beyond that, I didn't know, or think, anything about you." _

_It was mostly the truth, but he couldn't exactly tell Gale that he was jealous of all the time he got to spend with Katniss. The fleeting moments spent with her on the very same set of steps paled in comparison to the hours that Gale had with her every single day. _

_"Then you're probably the exception to the rule." _

_"I wasn't aware that there was a rule."_

_"Of course there's a rule!" Gale said, raising his voice. "Merchants on one side, Seam on the other. Neither side truly likes the other, and they keep raising their children to think the same way."_

In exchange for listening to Gale's rants, Peeta learned a lot about life in the Seam that Katniss probably never would have told him. He wasn't blind to the way things were and he was far from content with it, but Gale's experiences painted things in a way that Peeta had never seen before. He often found himself asking Gale about Katniss haphazardly, feeding off of the anger Gale carried with him every single day.

The realities of life in the Seam were even worse than Peeta had ever imagined. Suddenly, the idea of secret meetings felt like an insult. Did Katniss hate Merchants like Gale did? Was that why their time together had to be spent in the dark alley behind his family's business? Had some of his mother's hatred for people from the Seam rub off on him?

"Did your parents raise you to hate Merchant people?" Peeta asked.

"Well.. no."

"Then why do you?"

Gale sputtered and coughed as he tried to come up with an answer. "How is it fair that you have more than others just because you come from a family of skilled bakers?" Gale asked. "Meanwhile, those of us on the _other side of town_ are forced to work in the mines for coal that fuels the very trains that whisk the district's children off to die every year?"

"I thought you wanted to work in the mines?" Peeta asked, feigning ignorance. He knew that nobody ever _wanted _to work in the mines. "Like your father."

"Yeah, well I lied," Gale shot back. "The thought of it terrifies me every day. Does that makes you happy?" He refused to meet Peeta's eyes. "In another year I'll get to spend my days underground and force my mother to worry every day if I'm going to come home at night while you sit pretty here and bake your bread."

"It's not fair," Peeta agreed. "But it's also not fair to assume that things are infinitely better for us in town."

"But they are better."

"At what cost?" Peeta said, raising his voice slightly. "My family runs a business where most of the profits are pumped right back into the Capitol. We don't keep as much or have as much as you might think. In fact, I bet there are days when you and your family eat better than my family."

"I find that hard to believe," Gale said, shaking his head as though he refused to accept Peeta's suggestion.

"Then you haven't been paying attention," Peeta said. "Why do you think my father is so eager to trade with you? Because when you or Katniss bring us squirrels, rabbits, or a turkey, that is the freshest thing we will probably eat for weeks. Otherwise, our dinners consist of food that is so old that not even the pigs would eat it. I'm sure there are people in the district that hate us even for having that much, but your ability to hunt gives you an advantage that others don't have the same way my family's ability to bake gives us one. Have you ever thought that maybe _they _hate _you _for that?"

"That's stupid."

"Is it?"

"My hunting skills aren't pumped back into the Capitol like your ability to bake is," Gale reasoned. "What I do defies their order."

"Then it's the Capitol you're truly angry with."

"And you're not?" Gale asked incredulously.

"Of course I am," Peeta replied.

"Then show it!" Gale yelled. "You sit there and quietly do what is expected of you, and for what? For the Capitol to take it all away from you." Finally, Gale looked at Peeta, his eyes full of fire. "What makes you angry, Peeta? And don't give me anything generic that pisses all of us off, either. I want to know, _what makes Peeta Mellark angry?_"

"I don't know," Peeta lied.

"You're full of it," Gale shot back.

"We should probably get back to work now," Peeta said, standing up.

"We have ten minutes still," Gale replied. "Come on, Peeta. Just answer the question. Unless you're scared."

Peeta heard the challenging tone in Gale's voice. The way his sentences seemed to light a fire under him that he wanted to spread as far as he could and it was working. Every word Gale had said came rushing back to Peeta.

The hatred, the jealousy, and even the terror Gale conveyed was now coursing through Peeta's veins. As Gale stood there, daring Peeta to speak and waiting for Peeta to give him something, anything he could latch onto and turn into a tirade, he knew there was no avoiding it. For every bit of stubbornness Peeta Mellark had in his body, Gale Hawthorne had three times as much, and Peeta's resentment was building.

He thought about every time he saw Gale and Katniss walking through town together and it wasn't jealousy he felt anymore. It was anger. Nobody cared that they were together. Nobody whispered as they passed. They could be together as friends or as lovers and nobody would bat an eye because it didn't defy order. Gale was right.

"All of those rules you talk about make me angry," Peeta said. His voice was precariously even.

"Now we're onto something," Gale replied, clapping his hands together.

"I hate that you can walk into town with your friend and not get confused stares. You can walk right back out of here hand in hand if you wanted to and nobody would think twice about why you were doing it," his voice grew louder, more incensed. "Nobody would wonder what is wrong with you, nor would they lecture you about what a bad idea it was. Nobody would try to convince you that she was no good for you." Peeta rattled on while Gale's gaze grew more and more disconcerted. "I hate that, according to you and most of the others in the district, I can't be with Katniss."

Peeta's mindless rant was out before he could stop it, and there was no going back. He saw Gale's perplexed expression disappear only to be replaced with furrowed eyebrows and an ice cold glare.

"What?" Gale asked, his voice low. "What did you say?"

Peeta knew that this was one area they would never see eye to eye, and he wasn't sure why he ever thought he would be able to talk to Gale day in and day out. Eventually, his feelings for Katniss were going to come out, and his bitter thoughts of Gale would boil over.

"You heard me," Peeta shot back.

"You know," Gale began, rounding on Peeta. "I had this feeling that you had something for Katniss. You mention her and ask about her enough. It's so obvious now." His laugh was cold. "And you actually think she'd want _you_? Why?"

_A light spring rain fell as Katniss and Peeta sat close together under the small awning that covered the bakery's back steps. Katniss was quieter than usual and played with the end of her braid almost nervously as she rested her head on Peeta's shoulder. _

_"I'm glad it's finally warming up," Peeta said in attempts to make conversation. _

_"Me too," Katniss answered. "I was beginning to think winter was going to stick around forever." _

_"There is something amazing about all of it, though."_

_"About winter?"_

_"Yeah," Peeta nodded. "We spend so much time looking at gray skies, dormant trees, and feeling nothing but cold air that when spring finally does come, it helps you appreciate it more." He stared at the sky dotted with bright stars, no longer blackened by heavy, winter clouds. "I'm almost willing to go through the harshest winter just to appreciate the warmth of the spring sun and the colors that reappear every year." _

_"Like when you see the first dandelion of the year?" Katniss asks. _

_"Yes," Peeta murmured. "It's like a rebirth."_

_"Rebirth," Katniss repeated, testing the word. "I like that."_

_"So do I."_

_"Peeta?" _

_"Hmm?"_

_Katniss lifted her head to meet Peeta's eyes. "Have you ever kissed anyone?_

_Peeta thought back to the day Orchid Keene kissed him on the school playground when he was seven years old. Did that really count? It was only on the cheek and only the one time. He didn't think that was the type of kiss Katniss was talking about. She was talking about the kind of kisses he shared with Eve Wellwood last summer. _

_"One person," Peeta finally answered, shifting to look at Katniss head on. The way Katniss's eyes fell to a spot on the concrete had Peeta almost wishing he could have lied to her. "Have you?"_

_"No," Katniss answered quickly. "What's it like?"_

_"I don't know," Peeta shrugged. "Kind of boring." _

_That was a lie. _

_"Boring? Really?" Katniss asked. _

_"Sure." _

_He couldn't find it in himself to tell her that kissing was the antithesis of boring. It was exhilarating, it was enjoyable, and most of all, it was arousing. Only the walk home while he thought about schoolwork was enough to relieve the tension in the front of his pants after leaving Eve's house. No, kissing was definitely not boring. _

_"So then it wouldn't be a big deal if we tried it, right?" Katniss asked. _

_"What?"_

_Katniss's cheeks reddened in response to Peeta's shock. "Nothing. Nevermind."_

_"No, no," Peeta stammered. "I just.. you caught me off guard. I didn't think you cared about that sort of thing." _

_"Well I'm not completely frigid," Katniss retorted, sounding offended. "Nevermind. This was a bad idea." _

_Katniss stood up and prepared to leave, the hurt expression on her face illuminated by the flood light in the alley. _

_"Katniss, wait!" Peeta said standing up and grabbing her hand. Without a second thought he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. He only let go of her hand after he pulled away, giving her every opportunity to run away and act as though it never happened, but instead she stood there facing Peeta, unmoving._

_Slowly, Katniss brought her fingers up to touch her lips. "You didn't give me a chance to decide if it was boring or not."_

_"Are you asking me to kiss you again?" _

_All Peeta needed to see was her nod. The same nod she gave him through the window of the bakery through the years. The nod that told him, _"Yes"_. And so, for the second time that night, Peeta leaned in and kissed her. _

_The second kiss was more than a peck and gave Peeta a chance to take in everything he could about the moment. Katniss's lips were softer than he'd imagined them to be and they kissed him back with a mixture of eagerness and first time Peeta opened his mouth, it allowed Katniss's bottom lip to rest between his, eliciting a soft sigh from second time, he flicked his tongue out, ghosting it over the warm swell of her bottom lip. It was like he could feel Katniss experience everything he knew kissing to be. The exhilarating feeling of his tongue in her mouth for the first time, the enjoyment that the new sensation brought, and with an almost inaudible moan that carried from the back of Katniss's throat, the arousal. _

_Peeta was breathless when he pulled away, licking his lips in hopes that he could still taste Katniss there. _

_"You lied to me," Katniss said after a short silence. _

_"What do you mean?"_

_"About kissing." Katniss pulled her coat off of the bakery's stoop and shrugged into it. "It's not boring at all."_

"You asked me what made me angry, and I told you," Peeta said coolly. "That's part of our oppression you're always talking about, isn't it? The fact that Merchant and Seam people can't fall in love without losing something? Their families, their businesses, maybe even their friends if they're anything like you."

"_Fall in love?_" Gale repeated, laughing. "So, what, you're in love with Katniss then?"

Peeta's silence was Gale's answer.

"And what if she's taken?"

"Well if something has changed since last night, she has yet to tell me," Peeta replied. For a moment, he felt smug. To allude out loud to the fact that he and Katniss had been spending time together was a relief. But he soon realized that what he just said not only exposed himself, but Katniss as well.

Fear shocked Peeta's body when he saw Gale's face fall. Katniss had never told him that she was interested in Gale, but could it still be true?

"Are you…" Peeta stammered. "Do you two have something going on?"

"Not really," Gale admitted. "But I just figured…" His face softened for a split second, but quickly reverted back to the icy glare that seemed to be reserved just for Peeta.

"You _figured_?" Peeta asked incredulously. "You figured, what? That you were just entitled to have her?"

"And what were you planning to do?" Gale asked. "Give up everything and be forced to live in the Seam so you could be together? You know she could never live here in town with you. Not with that mother of yours. The things she has said to me were bad enough, I can't imagine what she'd say to the girl her son is in love with."

Gale's words weren't a friendly warning. His words were a provocation, and the truth behind them turned Peeta's bitterness toward Gale into pure hatred. He charged at Gale, catching him off guard and pinning him to the alley wall with his forearm.

"Leave!" Peeta yelled. "You don't want to be here, so I'm giving you an out right now. Leave and don't come back. I'll deal with my father."

"Fine," Gale spat, pushing Peeta off of him. "But I'm not leaving because you told me to, remember that. And remember this too, if you touch me again I'll break your arm."

"Is that a promise?" Peeta asked, stepping forward.

Gale sneered and shook his head. "You can give my portion of food from today to Katniss the next time you see her." There was something is Gale's tone that Peeta didn't like, but Gale didn't give him the chance to figure it out. He stormed off down the alley and disappeared from sight before Peeta could even process what he'd just done.

XXXX

As promised, Gale never returned to the bakery after that day in the alley with Peeta. Hazelle stopped in from time to time, claiming that Gale was sick and would soon return, but after more than a week she stopped coming in, forcing Peeta to lie to his father about why Gale stopped coming to work.

In the midst of everything, Katniss also stopped visiting town. Peeta looked for her every day, hoping that the need to trade would be so dire that she would be forced to come back, even if she didn't come to the bakery to trade, but she was nowhere to be found.

Peeta knew what it meant. Gale had told her everything.

He questioned his fight with Gale daily. The things that Gale pointed out were too great to ignore. Why did his friendship with Katniss have to be a secret? Was consorting with a girl from the Seam really grounds for only meeting after the sun had set and their families were asleep? Where had it gotten them? Why had they bought into these primitive conventions for so long, and worse, accepted them?

Those were the questions that plagued Peeta as he swept the front stairs of the bakery. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the figure standing before him until they cleared their throat.

"You look like you're working hard."

Katniss. He'd know that voice anywhere. It was etched in his brain since the first time he heard it when he was five years old.

"Just trying to get through the day," Peeta said dully, clutching the broom in front of him with both hands. "What brings you to this side of the district this time of day?" He couldn't hold back the bitterness in his voice as he looked around to see if anyone had joined her. "Alone, no less."

"To see you," Katniss replied.

"Are you here to yell at me?" Peeta snapped. "Because if you are, believe me, I've done enough of that myself these last two weeks."

"At first I wanted to," Katniss admits. "So I gave myself time to cool off."

"Well, thanks."

"Can you leave? I wanted to take you somewhere."

As Peeta stared at Katniss, she slowly began to nod, raising her eyebrows in question that silently asked him, _"Will you?" _It did not take him long to respond with a subtle nod that told her, _"Yes". _

He finished his sweeping quickly and tore his apron off, flinging it at the front door before tearing off down the steps and falling into step with Katniss as she led him away from town.

For the first time, Peeta and Katniss walked through town together and in the direction of the Seam, making a sharp left turn just as they crossed over. They walked through grass that had grown long enough to cover their feet and ankles entirely, scaring grasshoppers out of the overgrowth with every step until Katniss finally stopped in front of a spot of fence that was visibly broken.

"Follow me," she said, ducking under the opening.

Peeta hesitated and looked around and behind him to see if anyone was watching them.

"Come on," Katniss chuckled. "It'll be fine, I promise."

Once Peeta was under the fence they continued walking deep into the woods, not stopping until they reached an old, abandoned house. The wood was old, dark and weathered despite the rays of sun that leaked in through the forest canopy, a sharp contrast to the forest floor that was golden and alive with bright yellow dandelions.

"Do you come out here often?" Peeta asked, stepping into dark house and looking around.

"I do when I need to think," Katniss replies. "I've been here a lot the last two weeks."

"Why'd you bring me all the way out here, Katniss?" Peeta asked abruptly. "I know it wasn't to show me this."

"Gale told me that he loves me."

"Oh," Peeta said. "And.. do you.. love him?"

"Of course I love him," Katniss said. There was not an ounce of doubt in her voice.

Everything Peeta had been telling himself in his head since Gale left the bakery for good were coming true. He imagine him running to find Katniss and confessing his feelings. He saw Katniss, confused and overcome, reciprocating his feelings. She was there to tell him all of this and confirm once and for all that he had no chance.

"Oh," Peeta said again. It was the only thing he could manage to say.

"We were hunting about a week ago and he told me," Katniss began. "He said he quit working at the bakery because he wanted out of here, and he wanted me to go with him. He asked me to pack up my family and drag them into the woods with him and his family. And then he told me he loved me."

"Are you going?"

"I love Gale, but not the way he loves me," Katniss said. "I considered going with him. It would be easy enough to get along, but the more I thought about it, the more unhappy the thought of it made me. It just took me a little while to realize why."

"Why?" Peeta whispered.

"Because he isn't what I need," Katniss said. "Gale is good as my friend, but it could never be more than that. There is enough fire inside of Gale to light up the entire district. I have enough fire of my own. I need hope. Someone that shows me that things _can_ be good. All Gale succeeds in doing is reminding me that, right now, things aren't good."

"But maybe they can be" Peeta murmured.

"I need someone that is like that first dandelion in the spring," Katniss said. "Rebirth, remember? A new beginning. And only you can give me that."

The force in which Katniss flung herself into Peeta's waiting arms knocked them both off balance, and as they fell to the ground, coating their clothing in dust, their lips met hungrily.

As each second passed, Peeta could feel his body taking over. Exhilaration, enjoyment, arousal. Their clothing was shed with reckless abandon and placed underneath them as they moved into position. Peeta, crossed-legged and bare, watched as Katniss moved to sit in his lap. She used her arm to try and cover her exposed breasts, but Peeta removed it slowly, kissing her tenderly.

"It's alright," he whispered.

He took himself in one hand and held Katniss's hip with the other as she hovered over his arousal and slowly lowered herself down. She bit his shoulder in attempts to stifle the deep cry as Peeta pushed into her center and they rocked back and forth together slowly.

Peeta knew he wouldn't last long. The sensations were all too new, and too different from what he was used to that there was no way he could hang on for long. With a strangled cry of warning, Katniss moved off of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him close as his climax ripped through him.

They sat in the middle of the old house holding onto each other for what felt like hours. Only the sounds of their breathing disturbed the quiet space around them. Finally, it was Katniss who broke the silence.

"Can we stay like this forever?" she whispered into the crook of Peeta's neck.

"Don't you think your family would miss you?"

At the mention of her family, Katniss lifted her head. She trailed her hand down the side of Peeta's face before giving the corner of his mouth a kiss. "Yeah, they probably would."

"Then we can't stay here," Peeta said sadly. "We have to go back eventually."

"But for now?" Katniss asks. "Stay with me?"

"Always." Suddenly, an idea washed over him. "We should leave the district."

"You know we can't do that," Katniss said.

"We can if they don't know we left," Peeta replied. "Run away, like Gale said."

"What about my family?"

"Bring them."

"Yours?"

"They won't miss me."

Katniss looked down at Peeta seriously. "But you've never even been in the woods before today. We'd need at least two people that could hunt to make it work."

"Then teach me," Peeta said. "I'm already pretty good with a knife."

"You're serious..."

"I'm serious."

Peeta knew what a crazy idea it was, but what if they could do it? Pick up and leave, make a life together in the woods. He couldn't be sure, but if there was one old abandoned house out there in the woods, there had to be more somewhere even further away from District 12. They could do it.

He looked up at Katniss and touched her chin, willing her to look at him. He raised his eyebrows and with one quick nod, silently asked her, _"Will you?" _

It took a little longer than it usually did, but eventually, Katniss gave him that subtle nod that told him, _"Yes". _


End file.
